


Starlight-Softened Boundaries

by Kalira



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Yamato | Tenzou, Blood, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Help, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pet Names, Pre-Relationship, Touch-Starved, Trauma, Whumptober, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-02 06:54:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21157445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Every night, every mission, sinks Tenzou a little further into the mask of Cat, until one night in blood and starlight he finally breaks, seeking out the only warm, safe place he has ever found.





	Starlight-Softened Boundaries

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Whumptober](https://whumptober2019.tumblr.com/post/187785964678/whumptober2019-october-approaches-and-so-does), Alternative Prompt 14: Touch-starved

Tenzou shuddered as he carefully shaped a familiar sequence of seals, only a fraction of his mind on the task, on what he was doing here, praying silently that-

The wards sparked and rushed over him with a crackle of chakra, the door opening as they eased in response, and Tenzou nearly wept as he stumbled into the apartment. Safe and comforting. He removed his mask and it slipped from blood-slick fingers to bounce on the floor, almost silent.

The door swung closed behind him and the wards snapped back into place with a tingling buzz he felt but couldn’t quite hear, wrapping quiet and security around him.

Tenzou took a deep, shaky breath and moved across the small apartment. He hesitated, his entire being yearning towards the single closed door, then turned into the bathroom instead. He peeled off his sodden gloves, blood cracking and peeling off his skin along with the fabric, and dropped them on the floor, followed by the rest of his armour.

He left the lights off, the tiny slivers of light from the window in the main room just enough to make out what he needed as he washed away sweat and blood and dirt.

Clean and still damp, Tenzou abandoned the cloths he had used over the edge of the sink, took a dull green yukata from the shelf behind him, then wrapped himself in it and let his aching heart finally draw him to the door opposite. He opened it and padded inside, another layer of tension easing away from him.

Tenzou’s breath caught. He paused at the side of the bed, looking down at the lean figure stretched out in the bed, spiky hair all but glowing in the thin illumination offered by the night sky.

Kakashi shifted and stretched languidly, twisting beneath the blanket. He stretched one arm out across the bed, the blanket sliding down from where it had covered his face - though he wore one of his sleeveless shirts with the cowled mask raised. “Kitten. Come here.”

Tenzou twitched, eyes widening. Kakashi opened his eye and glanced up. “S- Senpai-”

“Come here.” Kakashi said again as Tenzou’s breath hitched, tone gentle but firm. His long fingers curled and he slid his arm up, as though-

Making space. For Tenzou.

Tenzou swallowed and his knees nearly gave out. He let himself fall onto Kakashi’s bed, wavering as he landed, body bowing, and Kakashi raised a hand, sliding over Tenzou’s arm and curling into the soft fabric of his own worn yukata.

Tenzou followed his gentle pull with a stifled, hitching breath, nearly tumbling forwards towards Kakashi as he got his knees under him on the bed. Kakashi pulled again, wriggling his slender shoulders and leaving a clear space at his side. Tenzou slumped into it and gasped as his shoulder, then his neck brushed Kakashi’s arm, and Kakashi’s free hand slid over his side through the worn, thin material.

It felt like the bite of a dozen blades to be touched, but as the sharp ache faded. . .

Tenzou twitched and trembled under the shocky feeling, but the touch was so _warm_. Warm and good and- and _safe_. He pressed into it, and Kakashi’s hand splayed a little wider, smoothing over his hip and back up again, drawing him in closer.

Tenzou could hardly remember the last time he had been touched that it hadn’t been with aggression . . . and even then, Tenzou was quick and sure, one of the best, with mokuton to guard himself. He wasn’t often caught with such strikes.

His breath hitched again and Kakashi crooned, rubbing his back as he pressed himself shakily close to Kakashi’s side, feeling his lean, solid body through the bedclothes. Kakashi shifted until Tenzou was almost lying over him, head tucked on his shoulder, and wrapped him in a snug embrace, one hand roaming his back and side in gentle, firm strokes.

Tenzou realised he was crying only when he tried to press even nearer to Kakashi and his cheek nudged along wet fabric. He caught his breath with a harsh sniff and cringed.

“Hush, kitten.” Kakashi murmured, fingers rubbing at the nape of his neck. “Easy. Just breathe.”

Tenzou did, falling into the same rhythm as Kakashi’s fingers petting his neck as Kakashi murmured gentle reminders from time to time. The ache in his chest eased slowly, and the tears stopped once more, leaving Tenzou feeling . . . hollow, almost stinging.

He thought he might have felt cold, but it was impossible to feel cold with Kakashi so close. As Tenzou finally stilled, Kakashi moved beneath him, curling one arm snug around his shoulders and drawing him in closer, beneath the blanket where it was dim and warm and safe, body almost winding around his own.

Tenzou clung to his shirt. Kakashi was thin - wiry, really; all bone and whipcord muscle - his shoulders narrower than Tenzou’s, and he was barely taller than Tenzou now . . . and yet his presence somehow made Tenzou feel almost small, protected and comfortable. He shouldn’t _need_-

But _oh_ how warm it felt to have it, to be safe, accepted . . . to be _held_.

“I-” . . .but Tenzou had come here, had slipped himself into Kakashi’s _home_, had disturbed him and never so much as asked. . . “I’m sorry, Kakashi-senpai.” he said softly, voice thin and rough. “I only. . .”

He had barely spoken to Kakashi since- since he had been pulled from Kakashi’s ANBU squad. It had been- He had hated it, had missed Kakashi - his Hound-senpai - so much, even as he had ducked his head, donned his mask, and done as he was ordered. He had never dared to reach out, to break from behind Cat to seek Kakashi out again. Yet tonight, running home, mission completed, in the soft starlight. . . Something inside him breaking. . . He had felt-

“What are you apologising for?” Kakashi asked, his knuckles rubbing the nape of Tenzou’s neck.

“For- For coming here, you never-” Tenzou found his words smothered in Kakashi’s shoulder as he was tugged in closer.

“Hush, kitten.” Kakashi murmured when he tried to speak again. “You can always come to me.”

Tenzou took a breath, then . . . let it out, shaking, and curled into Kakashi a little more tightly.

“There you are.” Kakashi’s fingers ruffled through his hair. “My cute kohai. Kitten.”

Tenzou fiddled with his handfuls of Kakashi’s shirt, trying to pull himself together. “Why- Why do you call me that? My mask-” he paused; he . . . hated it, just a little, now, though he hadn’t at first. Cat, it seemed much of the time, was all that he _was_. He didn’t want it to be all that he was to Kakashi, though Tenzou wasn’t sure what else there _was_ to him beneath it.

“It isn’t because of your codename.” Kakashi said, cocking his head, thumb brushing Tenzou’s cheek. “I thought of you that way even before you came back to me. Before we ever assigned you a mask and a name, before you were wrapped into my squad, you were a kitten to me.”

Tenzou made a startled sound, lifting his head and looking at Kakashi. He smiled, his eye crinkling. “So small and fierce, scratching and hissing, but you were only lost and hurting, wanting to be cared for, and warm.” He hugged Tenzou gently, tilting his head slightly. “Kitten.”

Tenzou opened his mouth, then closed it, flushing. Kakashi rubbed his back, making a curious little sound. Tenzou nodded slightly, and Kakashi relaxed again.

“I,” Tenzou began, and shifted awkwardly, “can . . . always come to you?” he repeated, careful.

“Always.” Kakashi promised softly. “My kitten.”

Kakashi’s hair gleamed like the starlight that had softened the world around Tenzou and made him think, _wish_, that he could ask for more, _seek out_ more, that even when he was breaking and unsure there had always been one person who had made sense, had offered better. Kakashi’s eye was soft and understanding, his bed comfortable and close. Kakashi’s arms around him were warm and secure. Tenzou burrowed into them, and sighed, and slept.


End file.
